Methods and apparatus for improved cellular communication

ABSTRACT

A cellular telephone system including a cellular telephone operable to perform functions programmed at a central location. The telephone transmits a code to a central computer, which then executes the function associated with the code. Functions include, for example, establishing a telephone connection between the telephone and a called number, providing access to voice mail, callback paging, and programming. The central computer may be programmed to associate new functions with particular codes. The telephone system also includes a base station for charging a battery of the cellular telephone, for low-battery or battery-free operation of the cellular telephone, and for programming the telephone or the central computer.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

The present invention relates generally to wireless communication. Moreparticularly, the invention relates to an improved cellular telephonesystem whose components can be constructed inexpensively and compactly,provides an integration of controls and functions, makes efficient useof power, and saves space and cost.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

Wireless communication has repeatedly proven and extended its usefulnesssince its earliest days, and as time has passed the technology hassteadily improved. The improvement of the technology has made wirelesscommunication widely available. The systems required have becomesmaller, consuming less power, and they have come to require less skillto operate. While early systems required a large assembly consumingsubstantial power, and required the operator to be able to transmit andreceive in Morse Code, a present day wireless communication user need dono more than pull a communication device such as a cellular telephoneout of his pocket, press a sequence of keys, and begin to communicate.

Progress toward universality of wireless communications is todayexemplified by the cellular telephone network. With a cellulartelephone, a user can communicate with other cellular telephone users orwith conventional telephone users from a wider and wider geographicrange, because of the large number of repeater stations in the cellularnetwork.

Cellular telephones have advanced immensely since their introduction.They have become much smaller, and have become capable of digital datatransmission as well as voice transmission. The additional features andsmall size have come with a cost, however. Adding additional features toa cellular telephone increases its complexity and cost, and tends toincrease its size. Reducing the size of cellular telephone is presentlyaccomplished through the development and use of highly miniaturizedcomponents. The use of such miniaturized components adds greatly to thecost of a device. Moreover, the substantial power requirements ofcellular telephony limit further reductions in the size and weight of abattery-operated telephone because of the requirement that the batterybe able to provide a certain amount of power. The power requirements ofconventional cellular telephones require the battery to be a certainsize, or alternatively, require the use of new and more expensivebattery technologies, or else limit the length of time the telephone canbe used without recharging or replacing the battery.

Other features of conventional cellular telephones include the abilityto dial any number, as does an ordinary land-based telephone, to displaythe number being called and the various features being selected, and theability to send and receive fax and data transmissions. All thesefeatures add to the expense and complexity of the cellular telephone. Aless expensive and less complex phone is highly desirable for many usersand applications.

Moreover, applications exist in which a cellular telephone with limitedfunction would be highly desirable. An employer may wish to give alimited capability cellular telephone to a courier, for example, withwhich the courier could call a central office, or a parent may wish togive a child a cellular telephone with which the child can call home.The same features that add to the weight, complexity and expense ofpresent-day cellular telephones also increase the risk of givingcellular telephones to employees or children, by allowing the employeror child to incur the expense of calling locations other than a centraloffice or parents' home, respectively. Additionally, the risk of loss ortheft of any expensive item is a factor to be considered.

By way of example, the flexibility of a conventional cellular telephonemay make it highly attractive to thieves. Conventional cellulartelephones can be used by thieves just as easily as by authorized users,and to call any location the thief wishes to call. In order both todiscourage theft and to minimize inconvenience and expense to the userwhich may be caused by theft, one might wish to carry a cellulartelephone which was usable only to call a limited range of locationssuch as one's home, one's office, or a roadside assistance service.

A limited-capability cellular telephone could advantageously achieveadded flexibility, while retaining the reduced weight, size and costoccasioned by its reduced capability and the security benefits alsooccasioned thereby, if it were capable of being programmed at a centrallocation controlled by an authorized user. Such a telephone would notneed to be returned to a vendor each time a decision was made, forexample, to add or remove callable locations from its inventory.

There exists, therefore, a need in the art for a cellular telephonetransceiver which can be readily manufactured at a low size and weightwithout the need for miniaturization of components, which can beprogrammed to call only a limited number of calling locations, and whoseinventory of calling locations can be reprogrammed by the user at acentral location.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The present invention addresses the problems and provides the desiredadvantages described above, as well as other addressed further below, byproviding a cellular phone having a compact and low-weight design. Thedesign preferably includes a folding case and a flexible, retractableantenna which is extended and retracted by the action of opening andclosing the transceiver. The phone preferably includes a multipositionswitch which selects one of a limited number of numbers to be called orother functions to be executed. Unfolding and folding the phonepreferably initiates and terminates a call. The phone is preferablycapable of being programmed with a choice of numbers to call at a basestation maintained by the user. The base station also preferablyincludes power ports for charging phone batteries, and a power supplywhich can be used to operate the phone without a battery.

A more complete understanding of the present invention, as well asfurther features and advantages of the invention, will be apparent fromthe following Detailed Description and the accompanying drawings.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a front view of a telephone according to a first embodiment ofthe present invention;

FIG. 2 is a side view of the telephone of FIG. 1 showing the telephonein a closed position;

FIG. 3 is a side view of the telephone of FIG. 1 showing the telephonein an open position;

FIG. 4 is a detailed illustration of a thumb switch assembly accordingto one aspect of the present invention;

FIG. 5 is a block diagram of a telephone system according to theteachings of the present invention;

FIG. 6 is an illustration of a base station according to further aspectsof the present invention;

FIG. 7 is an exploded view showing parts suitable for constructing oneembodiment of the telephone of FIG. 1; and

FIG. 8 is a diagram illustrating a method of wireless communicationaccording to the teachings of the present invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

FIG. 1 illustrates a low-cost cellular telephone 100 according to theteachings of the present invention. Telephone 100 includes an earpiece102, a mouthpiece 104, and a folding hinge 106. The hinge 106 connectsthe earpiece 102 to the mouthpiece 104, and allows telephone 100 to befolded into a more compact configuration when not in use. Earpiece 102contains a speaker 108 and an antenna guard 114. A portion of an antenna116 extends above the antenna guard 114 when the telephone 100 is in theopen and operative position illustrated in FIG. 1. Mouthpiece 104contains a microphone 110 and a multiple-position thumb switch 112. Theoperation of thumb switch 112 is described in greater detail inconnection with the discussion of FIG. 4 below. Setting the thumb switch112 to one of its available positions selects a number to be dialed, oranother function to be executed. Opening the telephone 100 causestelephone 100 to execute the selected function. If the function selectedis the dialing of a specified number, telephone 100 executes thefunction by connecting to a cellular network and dialing the selectednumber. Closing cellular telephone 100 ends the call and disconnectstelephone 100 from the cellular network. A call can also be disconnectedby moving the thumb switch 112 from one position to another. Thismovement has the effect of disconnecting the current call and diallingthe number selected by the new thumb switch position or, if the thumbswitch is moved so as to select an alternative function, executing thatalternative function.

The ability of the telephone 100 to select the number to be calledthrough simply positioning the thumb switch 112 allows the telephone 100to be designed with no display screen and no keypad. These items consumesignificant amounts of power in typical prior art telephones. Theability of telephone 100 to be operated without a display screen andkeypad also allow telephone 100 to be designed with a smaller size andweight, without resort to expensive miniaturization, as is required whenit is desired to design small cellular telephones of the present stateof the art. Moreover, in typical prior art small cellular telephones,the display screen and keypad are quite small, and thus inconvenient forthe user. The ability of a telephone 100 according to the presentinvention to be operated without a display screen and keypad removes thenecessity of going to the expense of miniaturizing components which,because of their small physical size, are inconvenient to use.

The reduced power consumption of telephone 100 also allows the use of asmaller, lower-cost, or lower-capacity battery, as opposed to a large,higher-capacity battery or a small, higher-capacity, high-cost battery,as is typical in typical prior art telephones.

FIG. 1 also illustrates an indicator light 115, which providesinformation about the operating state and battery condition of telephone100. When telephone 100 is turned on, light 115 illuminates. When a callis being initiated or received, or is currently active, the light 115flashes. When a received call has been forwarded to voice mail, thelight 115 flashes rapidly. When the battery of telephone 100 is low,light 115 flashes slowly. When telephone 100 is turned off, or when thebattery is too low to power the telephone 100, the light 115 is off.

FIG. 2 is a side view of telephone 100 in a folded configuration,illustrating additional features of telephone 100. FIG. 2 shows sideviews of earpiece 102, mouthpiece 104 and hinge 106, as well as antennaguard 114 and antenna 116. An on-off switch 103 may be suitably locatedon the hinge 106 so that it is automatically moved to the on position toallow the telephone 100 to make a call upon opening the phone. On-offswitch 103 is also suitably designed so that if it is manually moved tothe off position when the telephone 100 is open, it cannot be moved tothe on position until telephone 100 has been closed.

It can be seen that antenna 116 is retracted when telephone 100 is in afolded configuration. In the illustrated embodiment, hinge 106 consistsof a flexible cable which attaches to the antenna 116. When telephone100 is folded, as shown, the hinge then automatically 106 pulls theantenna 116 into its retracted position. When telephone 100 is open, asshown in FIG. 1, the hinge 106 automatically pushes antenna 116 into anextended position which is not shown. The described arrangement forextension and retraction of antenna 116 consumes no power, and allowsthe antenna 116 to be properly extended and retracted as an automaticadjunct to the operation of telephone 100. The automatic extending andretracting feature of antenna 116 increases the compactness of telephone100 without the prohibitive power needs of extending and retracting theantenna with a motor, and also without the inconvenience to the user ofmanually extending and retracting a telescoping antenna. Moreover, thefact that the antenna 116 is automatically extended when telephone 100is operated conserves power. A user may forget or neglect to manuallyextend a telescoping antenna, and operation of a telephone with theantenna retracted decreases efficiency and thus increases powerconsumption. The automatic extension of antenna 116 prevents thisproblem thereby helping to conserve power.

FIG. 2 also shows a belt clip 120, and illustrates further details ofoperation of the thumb switch 112. As shown in FIG. 2, the thumb switch112 preferably operates as part of a thumb switch assembly 125. In theillustrated embodiment, thumb switch 112 can be moved within a track 122of the thumb switch assembly 125, to any of seven positions illustratedas circles: 123, 124, 124a, 124b, 126, 126a, and 126b to control theoperation of telephone 100 as described more fully below.

It will be seen that the integration of the call initiating andterminating function with the folding and unfolding of telephone 100significantly simplifies operation. Since opening telephone 100initiates the call, and closing telephone 100 terminates the call, theuser can be confident that the call is being properly initiated orterminated without having to look at telephone 100 or to search forbuttons. In small cellular telephones typical of the present state ofthe art, operating buttons or keys are often located very closetogether. Pressing the proper button requires concentration and thewrong button or multiple buttons may be easily pressed. The button-freeoperation of telephone 100 prevents this difficulty from occurring.

FIG. 3 is a side view of the telephone 100 in an open configuration.FIG. 3 shows earpiece 102, mouthpiece 104, hinge 106, on-off switch 103,antenna guard 114, antenna 116, thumb switch 112, and belt clip 120.FIG. 3 also shows speaker 108 and microphone 110. As shown in FIG. 3,the speaker 108 is preferably convex. This shape allows speaker 108 toform a seal with a user's ear, reducing the volume required foraudibility and thus reducing power requirements of the telephone 100.Microphone 110 is preferably of a high-sensitivity and directionaldesign, allowing telephone 100 to be useful even in conditions of highambient noise.

FIG. 4 is a more detailed representation of the thumb switch assembly125, showing thumb switch 112 and also showing first, second and thirdswitch positions 124, 123 and 126, respectively. Positions 124, 123 and126 are programmable with telephone numbers selected by the user. Thumbswitch assembly 125 also includes fourth, fifth, sixth and seventhpositions 124a, 124b, 126aand 126b. In the illustrated embodiment,positions 124a, 124b, 126a and 126b are preprogrammed with Voice Mail,911, 411 and the programming setting, respectively, but a manufactureror user can program positions 132, 134, and 136 with other settings asdesired.

FIG. 5 illustrates a system 500 including the telephone 100, wherebytelephone 100 can be programmed, used to retrieve voice mail or used tomake calls. System 500 includes the telephone 100, or a plurality oftelephones like the telephone 100, a cellular telephone network 502 anda central computer 504. In order to program the telephone 100, the userplaces switch 112 in the programming position 124b. The user then opensthe telephone 100. Telephone 100, when opened, automatically connects tothe cellular network 502 and calls the central computer 504. Uponconnecting to central computer 504, telephone 100 sends an identifyingsignal and a signal indicating the programming mode. Central computer504 sends voice prompts and programming signals to telephone 100, and isdirected by the user through the user's voice responses. Centralcomputer 504 preferably recognizes at least the digits 1 through 9, andthe words "yes" and "no." Upon connecting to the central computer 502,the user can program the first, second and third thumb switch settings124, 123 and 126 by vocally responding to a menu of prompts andappropriately positioning the thumb switch 112.

After such programming, when the thumb switch 112 is set to any ofpositions 124, 123, and 126 and the telephone 100 is then opened, thetelephone 100 connects to the cellular network 504 and then dialscentral computer 504. Telephone 100 provides to computer 504 a telephonenumber, or alternatively a code which computer 504 then translates to atelephone number. Employing the computer 504 to translate codes totelephone numbers saves memory in telephone 100, again reducing the sizeand expense of telephone 100. Computer 504 then calls the selectedcalled location, illustrated in FIG. 5, by way of example, as first,second or third called locations 506, 508, and 510 respectively.Telephone 100 operates similarly when thumb switch 112 is set to eitherof the positions 124b, or 126a to call 411 operator 514 or 911 operator516, respectively.

When thumb switch 112 is set to position 124a and telephone 100 isopened, telephone connects to cellular network 502 and connects to theuser's voice mail 512. A suitable method of accessing voice mail usingtelephone 100 is for telephone 100 to call central computer 504,identify telephone 100 and send an appropriate code to access voicemail. Central computer 504 then suitably delivers the user's voice mailby issuing voice prompts, receiving and acting on voice responses, andplaying the selected voice mail messages.

Numerous optional functions can be implemented in computer 504, withtelephone 100 being required merely to send an abbreviated code toactivate the selected function. Functions which are suitably implementedby computer 504 include directory assistance, a link to a live operatorcall-back paging system, automatic call forwarding, automatic voice mailforwarding and automatic call rejection or transfer to voice mail. Acallback paging function could be implemented by having telephone 100dial a number entered into the central computer 504 by the paging party.Upon receiving a paging tone, a user would open telephone 100, whichwould then connect to the cellular network 502, and dial centralcomputer 504. Central computer 504 would then dial the number enteredinto the central computer 504. Alternatively, a callback paging functioncould be implemented such that telephone 100 would dial a singlepreselected number when opened in response to a paging tone.

The use of central computer 504 also allows a central authority to limitthe use of telephone 100 as desired. For example, it may be desired toprevent telephone 100 from receiving incoming calls, to limit thenumbers which telephone 100 can be programmed to call to a limitedselection of telephone numbers, to limit telephone 100 to be able onlyto call a single location such as home, or the office to limit useage tomaking only local calls, or the like. The present invention is highlyflexible and adaptive.

FIG. 6 illustrates a base station 600 which may also be suitably used inconjunction with the telephone 100. Base station 600 preferably includesa keypad 602, a battery charging port 604, a handset 606, amultifunction charging, supplemental power and programming port 608, acord 610 to connect the handset 606, and a display screen 612. Telephone100 can be inserted into the multifunction port 608 to charge thebattery of the telephone 100 while the battery is still in telephone100, for programming telephone 100 by making entries on keypad 602, orto operating telephone 100 when its battery is fully or nearlydischarged or removed. If telephone 100 is programmed with codes to betranslated into telephone numbers by the central computer 504,multifunction port 608 need not provide a programming function. Instead,programming can be accomplished by communicating with central computer504 through voice or keypad entries with telephone 100, with basestation 600, or, if suitable security precautions are taken, such assuitable password protection or voice recognition, even with an ordinarytelephone.

FIG. 7 is an exploded view of the telephone 100 illustrating componentswhich may preferably be employed in telephone 100. Telephone 100preferably includes folding shell 702, antenna 116, speaker 706,microphone 708, battery 710 and one or more circuit modules. FIG. 7illustrates two circuit modules 712a and 712b, which will suitablycontain the electronic components necessary for the operation oftelephone 100. It will be recognized, however, that telephone 100 may bedesigned with components on more or fewer circuit modules. The variouscomponents of telephone 100 are connected by standard connectors 714a. .. n. The modular construction of telephone 100 facilitates repair. It isa simple matter to remove a defective component and replace it with anew component. Moreover, the modular design allows telephone 100 to beupgraded in the same manner, through the removal of an existingcomponent and its replacement with an improved component. A user canreceive the benefit of technological advancements without the need toreplace telephone 100 entirely.

FIG. 8 is a flowchart illustrating a method 800 of programming and usinga cellular telephone according to the teachings of the presentinvention. At step 802, the telephone, such as telephone 100, calls acentral computer, such as computer 504, over a cellular network,identifies itself, and establishes a connection. At step 803, thetelephone sends a signal to the computer, either terminating theconnection or transmitting a function code to the computer. At step 804,the computer examines the transmission received from the telephone todetermine if it is a terminating signal or a function code. If thetransmission is a terminating signal, control is transferred to step 805and the computer disconnects the telephone from the cellular network andwaits for another call from the telephone. If a function code has beentransmitted, control is transferred to step 806. At step 806, thecentral computer examines the function code to determine which functionhas been selected. If the programming function has been selected,control is transferred to step 808 and the central computer enters aroutine of issuing voice prompts and receiving inputs to program afunction for each code which is desired to be programmed. After theprogramming step has been completed, the telephone transmits a new codeto the central computer and control is transferred to step 804. If thefunction selected is to call a particular number, control is transferredto step 810. The central computer identifies the telephone numberassociated with the selected code, calls the number over the cellularnetwork, and establishes a connection between the telephone and thecalled number over the cellular network. This step is used to accessdirectory assistance, if directory assistance is implemented as a callto a human operator or to a remote automatic site. When the call isterminated, control is transferred to step 803 and the telephone sends asignal to the computer indicating the desired operation.

If the selected function is to access voice mail, control is transferredto step 812 and the computer enters the appropriate routine, receivingvoice inputs from the user, providing voice prompts and playing selectedmessages. When the voice mail access is terminated, control istransferred to step 803 and the telephone sends a signal to the computerindicating the desired operation.

If the selected function is to access directory assistance as a functionof the central computer, control is transferred to step 814 and thecomputer enters the directory assistance routine, receiving voice inputsfrom the user and providing voice prompts and playing directoryassistance information recordings. The central computer may also providean option whereby a number retrieved from directory assistance can beautomatically dialed. If this option is chosen, control is transferredto step 816 and the number is dialed as described in the discussion ofstep 810. When the call is complete, control is transferred to step 803and the telephone sends a signal to the computer indicating the desiredoperation.

I claim:
 1. A cellular telephone system, comprising:a limited functioncellular telephone transceiver for communicating over a cellular networkwithout utilizing a display screen and without utilizing a keypad, thetransceiver being operative to perform only a predefined set ofpreprogrammed functions, each of said functions being associated withone position of a multiposition switch, the transceiver being furtheroperative to connect to a cellular telephone network and establish aconnection to a central computer, the transceiver being furtheroperative, once connection to the central computer is established, totransmit a preprogrammed code to the central computer, said code beingselected prior to activating the cellular telephone by positioning saidmultiposition switch to the desired position, the central computer beingoperative to translate the preprogrammed code received from thetransceiver to one of the predefined set of preprogrammed functions tobe executed.
 2. The cellular telephone system of claim 1, wherein thepreprogrammed functions include associating the code received from thetransceiver with a particular telephone number to be dialed, dialingthat number, and establishing a connection between the transceiver andthe telephone number.
 3. The cellular telephone system of claim 1,wherein one of the plurality of codes is an indicator for selectingaccess to voice mail.
 4. The cellular telephone system of claim 1,wherein one of the plurality of codes is an indicator for selecting acallback paging function.
 5. A limited function cellular telephonetransceiver for communicating over a cellular telephone network, thecellular telephone being operative to connect to the cellular network,calling a telephone number associated with a central computer, andtransmitting one of a plurality of preprogrammed codes to the centralcomputer, said codes not corresponding to any individual telephonenumbers, the central computer being operative to execute the functionassociated with the transmitted code, and said transmitted code beingselected prior to activating the limited function cellular telephone bypositioning a multiposition switch to a desired position comprising:amicrophone enclosed within a first element of a folding case; a speakerenclosed within a second element of a folding case; said first elementand said second element of said folding case being attached by aflexible cable; and a retractable antenna attached to the folding case,the opening of the folding case serving to extend the antenna and theclosing of the folding case serving to retract the antenna by action ofthe flexible cable.
 6. The cellular telephone of claim 5, wherein one ofthe plurality of codes corresponds to a number to be dialed,establishing a connection over the cellular network between the cellulartelephone and the central computer, and the central computer dialing thetelephone number associated with the code.
 7. The cellular telephone ofclaim 6, wherein one of the plurality of functions which may bespecified by the code is establishing access to voice mail.
 8. Thecellular telephone of claim 7, wherein one of the plurality of functionswhich may be specified by the code is dialing directory information. 9.The cellular telephone of claim 8, wherein one of the plurality offunctions which may be specified by the code is the execution of aprogramming operation to associate a desired function with one or moreof the plurality of codes.
 10. The cellular telephone of claim 5, beingfurther operative to control the central computer by transmitting voicecommands over the cellular network.
 11. The cellular telephone of claim5, wherein said multiposition switch further comprises a sliding thumbswitch.
 12. A computer for controlling a limited function cellulartelephone by communicating with the cellular telephone over a cellulartelephone network, the computer being operative to connect to thecellular telephone over the cellular telephone network, to receive oneof a plurality of codes from the cellular telephone, and to execute oneof a plurality of predefined functions associated with one of aplurality of codes received from the cellular telephone, wherein saidone of said plurality of codes has been selected prior to activating thelimited function cellular telephone by positioning a multipositionswitch to a desired position.
 13. The computer of claim 12, wherein oneof the plurality of functions is to call a telephone number associatedwith the code received from the cellular telephone and to establish aconnection between the called number and the cellular telephone over thecellular network.
 14. The computer of claim 13, wherein one of theplurality of functions is to provide access to voice mail.
 15. Thecomputer of claim 14, wherein one of the plurality of functions is toprovide access to directory assistance.
 16. The computer of claim 15,wherein one of the plurality of functions is to execute a programmingoperation to associate a desired function with one or more of theplurality of codes.
 17. The computer of claim 16, wherein one of theplurality of functions is to receive a from a calling location a calldirected to the telephone and establish communication over the cellularnetwork between the calling location and the telephone.
 18. The computerof claim 17, wherein the computer is further operative to store aplurality of calling locations from which the telephone is permitted toreceive calls, to receive from a calling location a call directed to thetelephone, to compare the calling location against the calling locationsfrom which the telephone is permitted to receive calls, to establishcommunication between the telephone and a calling location from whichthe telephone is permitted to receive calls and to reject a call from acalling location from which the telephone is not permitted to receivecalls.
 19. The computer of claim 18, wherein the computer is furtheroperative to route rejected calls to voice mail.
 20. The computer ofclaim 19, wherein the computer is further operative to maintain criteriaby which rejected calls are to be refused or routed to voice mail,refuses rejected calls which meet the criteria for refusing calls androutes to voice mail rejected calls which meet the criteria for routingcalls to voice mail.
 21. The computer of claim 16, wherein the computeraccomplishes the programming operation by receiving a call from atelephone, the central computer providing voice prompts and receivingvoice responses, the computer associating a selected code with a desiredfunction in response to the voice responses.
 22. The computer of claim16, wherein the programming function is accomplished by receiving a callfrom a touch-tone telephone, the central computer providing voiceprompts and receiving keystroke tones, the computer associating aselected code with a desired function in response the received keystroketones.
 23. A method of cellular communication, comprising:establishing aconnection over a cellular network between a limited function cellulartelephone transceiver and a central computer; transmitting one of aplurality of codes from the transceiver to the central computer, saidone of said plurality codes being selected prior to activating thelimited function cellular telephone by positioning a multipositionswitch to a desired position, each of the codes being associated with aparticular function, the functions including calling one of a pluralityof particular telephone numbers, programming the transceiver toassociate new telephone numbers with one or more of the plurality ofcodes, and providing access to voice mail; employing the centralcomputer to execute one of a plurality of functions, the function to beexecuted being designated by the transmitted code; employing the centralcomputer to execute the function represented by the code; if thefunction to be executed is executing the programming function, employingthe central computer to issue prompts and receive responses to identifythe new telephone number to be associated with the code; if the functionto be executed is providing access to voice mail, employing the centralcomputer to issue prompts and receive responses to properly identify,store, and replay voice mail messages, as required, and to record voicemail messages to be stored; and if the function to be executed isdialing one of the plurality of telephone numbers, employing the centralcomputer to dial the number specified by the code and employing thecentral computer to establish a connection over the cellular networkbetween the dialed number and the transceiver.
 24. A limited functioncellular telephone for use with a cellular telephone system whichoperates without a display screen and without a keypad, comprising:a twoelement folding case, comprising;a mouthpiece containing a microphoneand a multiposition switch for selecting one of a plurality of functionswhich is being determined by a position of the multiposition switchenclosed within a first element of the folding case; an earpiececontaining a speaker enclosed within a second element of the foldingcase; and said first element and said second element of said foldingcase being attached by a flexible cable; a rechargeable battery; atransmitting/receiving unit for sending and receiving transmissions overa cellular telephone network; and a programmable storage unit forstoring said plurality of functions to be executed by the telephone, thestored functions including dialing only a plurality of prestoredtelephone numbers, each of said prestored numbers being programmed intosaid programmable storage unit.
 25. A cellular telephone forcommunicating over a cellular telephone network, comprising:a foldingcase; a microphone enclosed within the folding case; a speaker enclosedwithin the folding case; and a retractable antenna attached to thefolding case; a transceiving unit for sending and receiving signals overthe cellular telephone network; a programmable storage unit for storinga plurality of functions to be executed by the telephone, the functionsincluding dialing only a plurality of prestored telephone numbers,receiving new programmed functions, and providing access to voicemail;and a multiposition switch for selecting one of the plurality offunctions to be executed by the telephone.
 26. The cellular telephone ofclaim 25, further comprising a retractable antenna attached to thefolding case, the opening of the folding case serving to extend theantenna and the closing of the folding case serving to retract theantenna.
 27. The cellular telephone of claim 26, further comprising apower switch, said power switch being operable to activate the telephoneand initiate a telephone call when the folding case of said telephone isopened, said telephone call initiated corresponding to the preprogrammedfunction selected by said multiposition sliding thumb switch.
 28. A lowcost, low power cellular telephone for communicating over a cellulartelephone network without utilizing a display screen and withoututilizing a keypad, said cellular telephone comprising:a foldinghousing, comprising:a mouthpiece containing a microphone; an earpiececontaining a speaker; and a folding hinge connecting the mouthpiece andthe earpiece; a multiposition selection switch for selecting one of aplurality of predetermined functions based upon the position of themultiposition selection switch; a memory for storing a plurality offunctions to be executed by said cellular telephone, the storedfunctions including dialing only a plurality of prestored telephonenumbers; and a controller operable to detect the position of themultiposition selection switch to execute the function associated withthe position of the multiposition selection switch.
 29. The low cost,low power cellular telephone of claim 28 further comprising a singleindicator light which provides both operating state and batterycondition information.
 30. The low cost, low power cellular telephone ofclaim 28 further comprising a hinge activated switch located so as tochange position upon opening of the folding hinge;the controller beingoperable to detect the change of position of the hinge activated switchto automatically dial one of the predetermined stored numbers upon auser selecting a number with the multiposition switch and opening thecellular telephone.
 31. The low cost, low power cellular telephone ofclaim 28 further comprising a flexible extendible and retractableantenna attached to a hinge cable whereby said antenna is automaticallyextended upon opening the cellular telephone and automatically retractedupon closing the cellular telephone.
 32. The low cost, low powercellular telephone of claim 28 wherein the multiposition switch is athumb actuatable switch located on the housing in a positionfacilitating one-handed operation, the multiposition switch having afirst set of positions corresponding to a predefined set of numbers anda second set of positions corresponding to a predefined set offunctions.
 33. The low cost, low power cellular telephone of claim 28wherein said cellular telephone is programmed to call a predefined setof numbers to perform a predefined set of functions, and is operablewithout reprogramming to dial only the predefined set of numbers andperform only the predefined set of functions.